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MERKAZANASH

CARING FOR OUR OWN

Lma'an Yishme'u Shabbos Table Companion

THE KEDUSHAOFTHE DAY

The Zohar notes that Purim is similar to YomHaKipurim. This means that what is accomplishedon Yom Kippur by fasting can be accomplishedon Purim by rejoicing. Furthermore, the verynameKipurim (like Purim), implies that Purimis the greater Yom-Tov, impacting a person morepowerfully.

Indeed, Chazal teach that whenMoshiach comes,all the Yomim-Tovim will cease to exist; only theYom-Tov of Purim will remain. Chassidus explains

that the simcha and kedusha of Purim are sogreat, that even when we have the simcha andkedusha of thegeulah, Purim will still be special.

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The author ofChiddushei HaRim, the first Rebbeof Ger, illustrated the powerful potential ofPurim with a story:

There was once a Yid who set out on a journey,intending to commit a grievous sin, and tookalong five hundred gold rubles that he hadpatiently amassed over the years. On his way, hesuddenly heard the heartfelt cries of a family indistress. They were being evicted for not payingtheir rent. His pity aroused, he gave them all

the money that he had intended to use for theaveira.

His deed aroused such a great tumult inShamayim that it was decided that whateverthis man would decree, would materialize.However, to ensure that the privilege would notbe misused, it was ordained that he become adrunkard.

Some time later, a terrible tzara descended uponthe world. The Baal Shem Tov sent his talmidimto beg this drunken Yid to intercede and askHaShem for mercy. They repeatedly found himdrunk, until finally, catching him sober, theypresented their request and he succeeded inabolishing the decree.

The Chiddushei Harim would conclude: Purim isa day of eis ratzon, when every Yid like thatdrunkard can accomplish great things, withoutlimitation. However, to allow this to happen,one must make sure that the merrymaking willnot interfere with this mighty potential.

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In the Old Country, it was the custom in many

communities to celebrate Purim by appointingmake-believe rabbonim, policemen, judges andother important public figures. One year inZiditchov, the townspeople chose Reb Koppel(the nephew of the tzaddik, Reb Tzvi of Ziditchov)to be governor, and he in turn chose some of hisfellow chassidim to act as his advisers.

On Purim day, that entire band of masqueradersfirst drank LeChayim and then marched off tothe tzaddik's house, filled with lively spirits. RebTzvi treated the young governor with greatrespect, and asked him to remove the candleand meat tax that the government had recently

imposed. The lively governor agreed, but whenhe was asked to repeal the army draft on the

Jewish boys, he refused. No amount of begging,pleading or threatening could make him changehis mind, and the tzaddik left the room in anger.

The following day, when the effects of the spiritshad worn off, and fellow chassidim told RebKoppel of what had happened the previous day,he had no recollection of it. In fact, he couldbarely believe the story.

Later that year, the chassidim realized whathad occurred on Purim for the candle andmeat taxes were in fact removed, but the draftremained enforced.

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THE SIMCHAOF PURIM

We read in the Gemara that on Purim one mustdrink until he cannot differentiate ("ad dloyada") between 'cursed be Haman' and 'blessedbe Mordechai.'

The Gemara relates a story of two amoraim,Rabbah and Rav Zeira, who had their Purimseuda together, sharing profound secrets of theTorah over a number of cups of wine. However,Rav Zeira was so overwhelmed by the intensekedusha of Rabbah's revelations that his neshamaleft his body.

The following day, Rabbahdavened

for Rav Zeiraand brought him back to life. The next year, heonce again invited Rav Zeira to join him for theseuda and to share the deepest secrets of theTorah. Rav Zeira turned down the offer, saying,"Miracles dont happen every day..."

The Rebbe explains: The goal of ad dlo yada(literally, until he does not know") is thata person reach a level of utter subservience

to HaShem, which is not limited by his ownunderstanding, and through this, all undesirablperspectives will be washed away. As a resulone will have the strength to continue this avodthroughout the entire year.

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TheMegillah says that after the miracle of Purimthe Yidden were blessed with simcha ("joy"

which Chazal understand to mean that they wernow able to celebrate the Yomim-Tovim. ThRebbe explains that although goyim also havholidays, they celebrate them with drinking anunbridled conduct. Yidden, by contrast, eve

when they rejoice and drink they become closeto HaShem, and heighten their yiras Shamayi

and their kedusha.

,1274 " ' " ") ,920" ' " " '

On the first Purim after his chasuna, the AlteRebbe gave a non-literal exposition of the avodof attaining the level ofad dlo yada. On Purimhe said, we must ensure that the lo literally"the No," that is, the things that are forbidden should beyada ("known"). What we are supposeto do is well known, but one must also know

what is forbidden, so that it can be treated witextra caution.

In order to ensure that Purim does not lead tundesirable behavior, the Rebbe encouragepeople to take precautions by fulfilling th

mitzva only because the Torah commanded uto do so, and by following the takkanos limitinthe drinking of mashkeh, bearing in mind thamashkeh in itself is repulsive.

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The Rebbe related how the Rama would disguishimself on Motzoei Purim and make roundamongst the houses of Cracow, reminding thresidents to daven Maariv.

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RABBI CHAIM CHAZAN

KREPLACHReb Chessed Halbershtam, an assistant in theRebbetzin's home, remembers many instances wherehe saw the Rebbe's sensitivity to the Rebbetzin'sfeelings.

"It happened once that as I served the Rebbe and

the Rebbetzin soup at the Purimseudah, the Rebbementioned the minhag of eating kreplach on Purim. The Rebbetzin look very upset. She hastily apologized, for she had forgotten to make tkreplach.

"The Rebbe tasted from the soup, but stopped eating. After a while, I gup to serve the chicken course, and the Rebbe asked that I leave the soon the table. When I brought the chicken, the Rebbe took a piece of tchicken, wrapped it in challa, and dropped it into the soup.

Now we have kreplach, he said to the Rebbetzin with a smile"

THE CHIDA

Reb Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai is known as the

Chida. He was a great posek, a mekubal, a shadar

(collector of funds) who travelled the world, and a

great historian. He wrote over 100seforim on a wide range of topics, ma

of which are published. He was a talmid of the Or Hachaim Hakadosh.

was born in '" 1724 and passed away in Livorno, France on the 1of Adar, '" 1806.

The Medrash says that even if this is the only merit that they have, for t

alone they are worthy of being redeemed. The Chida explains that this is t

meaning of the words in davening, ...

. We are asking Hashem to send us Moshiach immediately, a "

to the possible argument that we are undeserving, we say, "Because

hope for your salvation all day," implying that as a reward for await

Moshiach, we deserve to be redeemed.

It is told, in the name of Reb Yehoshua Rokeiach of Belz, that the Chi

once asked a man from Chevron to accompany and serve him on one

his travels to serve him. During their journey, the man passed away. T

Chida was very upset, for now he would be returning to Chevron witho

the man, and he had left as a healthy, strong individual. Suddenly, as he w

thinking this, the man reappeared and began doing his job just as befo

He accompanied the Chida until they reached Chevron. There too, the m

carried on as before, until the first Friday night of their return. Then

Chida raised his hand heavenward, facing the servant, and called out, D

Dai! Dai! (Enough! enough! enough!)" And the man vanished.

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MATONOS LOEVYONIM

What is the optimal way to perform the mitzvah ofmatonos loevyonim?

The mitzvah ofmatonos loevyonim is to give a gift to two needyindividuals. The gift should consist of something that thereceiver can benefit from on Purim, such as money or food.

The Mishneh Brura brings in the name of the Ritva that twoprutos are sufficient to fulfill the mitzvah (in US currency thatwould be less than ten cents). However, manyposkim hold thatone must give at least enough to cover the cost of a meal. Thesize of this meal is subject to further debate amongposkim.

Although one fulfils the obligation ofmatonos loevyonim bygiving a small sum to two people, the Rambam writes: It ispreferable to spend more on matonos loevyonim than on the

Purim seudah and mishloach monos, because there is no greater

and more beautifulsimcha than to gladden the hearts of thepoor.

One may not use maaser money for the actual mitzvah ofmatonos loevyonim, but it is permissible to use maaser togive to additional needy people. On Purim, one should notexamine the worthiness of the tzedakah cause, rather donateto anyone who requests.

One who will not encounter needy people on Purim, shouldappoint an agent who will give on his behalf, either in personor by phone. If for whatever reason this is unfeasible on Purimitself, the consensus ofposkim is that one should donatebefore Purim in a manner that the poor people will receiveit on Purim. However, if that was not taken care of beforePurim and one does not know of any needy people and cantappoint an agent, one should set aside an amount on Purim

to be distributed it after Purim.

Matonos loevyonim can be given to anyone who doesnt havea steady income that is sufficient for his and his familys basicneeds, and doesnt own assets which he is able to sell, otherthan items for his and his familys personal use such as ahome and household wares. One can also give to someonewho has an income but doesnt have the resources with whichto pay for an exceptional expense such as a medical problemor making a wedding etc.

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